The term food quality has a variety of meanings to professional in the food industrial, but the ultimate arbiters of food quality must be consumers. This notion is embroiled in the frequently cited definition of food quality as “combination of attributes or characteristic of a product that have significance in determining the degree of acceptability of the product to a user.”

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Oats weevil contamination

Oats weevil contamination
Oats may be infested by the following cereal pests during storage and transport:

The chewing damage caused by the cereal pests brings about increased respiration in the cereal (hot spots) and this, associated with the metabolic activity of the pests themselves, promotes evolution of heat and moisture, which in turn provide favorable living conditions for molds and subsequently, at very high moisture levels, for bacterial growth.

Insect infestation may result in self-heating which ultimately gives rise to depreciation and finally total loss.Inadequately cleaned warehouses, holds and containers are generally the root cause of insect infestation.

Cereal is also at risk from rats and mice, which can act as disease vectors and contaminate the cereal.Before loading, holds/containers should be examined by an independent inspector for infestation by pests of any kind and an appropriate certificate obtained.
Oats weevil contamination